Australia Enforces Age ID Checks for Search Engine Users

by turrinion 1/2/2026, 3:34 AMwith 7 comments

by ceberton 1/2/2026, 3:54 AM

I have a feeling that I am going to soon become an old curmudgeon who tells stories of the good old days of the Internet to their kids and grandkids.

by phs318uon 1/2/2026, 9:04 AM

Aussie here. Using Safari/iOS with an ad-blocker, tested un-logged-in Google, Bing and DDG. Search was ā€œnaked women pornā€. Only Bing asked via a pop-up whether I was over 18, with options ā€œAgreeā€ or ā€œDisagreeā€. No other inputs required.

One piece of anecdata. Not particularly scientific. TBH the submitter (or anyone else) can use a VPN with an Australian exit node to test this for themselves.

by countWSSon 1/2/2026, 12:45 PM

Why Australia has those weird, draconian laws invented on the spot: Australians don't seem like authoritarian "need to know" crowd, yet there is no major opposition to this absurd change. Whats next, internet passports?

by metalmanon 1/2/2026, 9:01 AM

if it keeps on going like this, people will be forced to find other people who want to take there clothes off!

by tracker1on 1/2/2026, 4:50 PM

More private BBS networks and hosts...

by Aeglaeciaon 1/2/2026, 6:30 AM

the government can already subpoena private companies for records of an account's search history, what's the spook value add of tying them to pii? this is like a one-two punch, first social media now search engines - stunning to witness freedom crumpled with such ease. also fuck need to setup a vpn to keep using google drive/gmail for work